What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger
by Lady Elizabeth of New York
Summary: AU. Roberta "Robin" Potter was most definitively the black sheep of the Potter family. She was a Slytherin, married a Slytherin and cut off all ties with her brother, James. But when James died and leaves Robin custody of her nephew, Robin must put aside her anger and her resentment and raise Harry.
1. Chapter 1

Her parents thought she was going to be a boy. The Potters already had a name picked out for her: Robert Potter. They thought it was a good name. So good that when Mrs. Potter gave birth to a healthy baby girl, they decided to call her Roberta. And she hated it. By the time she was eight, she made everyone call her Robin and refused to be called anything else.

But her name was the least of her problems. Her biggest problem was her older brother, James. Robin and he had a strained relationship at their best if they didn't outright hate each other at their worst.

Robin resented James. He was the perfect son that her parents wanted instead of the terrible disappointment she was. It wasn't that her parents didn't love her. But they seemed to love James a little bit more. In their eyes, he could do no wrong.

In Robin's eyes, he could do very little right. Of course, James was smart. He acted like a perfect little angel around his parents. But, as soon as they turned their backs, he would call Robin Roberta or tease her or play a prank on her. Robin's temper would flair and she would lash out physically against James, and because of this, their parents continued believing their son's act.

Hogwarts did nothing to help matters. Robin was sorted into Slytherin and she made friends with Severus Snape and Regulus Black, causing her brother to ridicule her even more.

It became so bad that Robin didn't even like to be in the same room as James or his friends.

After Hogwarts, Robin cut off ties with James for good. James made three attempts to reconcile with his sister: once at their parents' funeral, then at James' wedding, and finally at the birth of Robin's nephew. But Robin would have none of it. A mistake she would later come to regret for the rest of her life.

* * *

November 1 1981

Robin kissed the top of her daughter's head as she placed one pancake on the plate.

"What are you drawing, sweetie?" she asked curiously.

"A raven," the young girl answered happily. "They're my favorite animals."

Robin beamed at her daughter. The child reminded her so much of her father, especially with his gentle grey eyes on her face. When Robin looked into her daughter's eyes, it was almost as if her lover was here again.

A knock on the door brought Robin out of her thoughts. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was through the window.

"Why don't you go upstairs with your drawing?" she suggested to her daughter. The girl nodded and headed up the stairs.

Robin waited until she was out of sight before opening the door to let Remus inside.

"Have you heard the news?" Remus asked somberly. Robin took a deep breath.

"Of course, I heard. Who hasn't? You-Know-Who has been defeated," Robin responded with a sad smile. She knew what he really meant.

"I meant about James and Lily being dead," Remus told her softly.

Robin let out a gasp and a sob as though his words' had physically pained her. Remus said nothing. He just waited for her to speak.

"I can't believe he's dead! I can't believe that Sirius betrayed James and Lily!" Robin cried, tears she had so desperately kept in threatening to spill.

"Robin, I'm so sorry. But there is one more thing that has to be done," Remus told her apologetically, reaching out and touching her arm.

"What has to be done?" Robin asked tearfully. "I haven't spoken to James in four years because I was too damn stubborn to accept his apology. And now I have to bury him and pretend not to hear everyone say what a bad sister I was."

"It's about Harry," Remus answered, not knowing what to say about the second part of Robin's speech. "James said specifically in his will if Sirius and I cannot take care of Harry that you were supposed to. And if not, Dumbledore wants him to go to Lily's sister. Robin, you cannot let that happen."

"Why not?" Robin wondered, her voice cracking. "Harry would be better off with her than me. She just hates magic. I actually married a man who oppressed everything my family believed in."

"Petunia won't love him," Remus protested. "And Robin, you have to know that James forgave you. He knows you loved Regulus. He would have gone to your wedding if you had sent him an invitation."

"I know that. I know that James loved me and if I had died he would take care of my daughter like she was his own. But I'm scared that I won't do the same for him," Robin told him softly. "What if I don't love Harry because when I look at him, he reminds me of all the horrible things James did to me?"

"You will. Lily and James had faith in you and so do I," Remus assured her kindly. "I'll bring him here tonight." Robin nodded and said goodbye to Remus as he left.

As soon as he was gone, Robin buried her face in her hands and sobbed: "I'm sorry, Jamie, I'm sorry. Forgive me please."

* * *

That night, just as Robin had tucked her daughter into bed, Remus came back with Professor McGonagall in tow.

"Roberta," McGonagall greeted her with a curt nod. McGonagall and Robin had never seen eye to eye. They respected each other a great deal but they didn't like each other much for the simple reason that they were both too full of house pride for their own good.

Robin didn't care, though. All she could do was look at the sleeping baby in Remus' arms, his body wrapped in a blue blanket. Remus handed Harry to her, giving his head a pat.

"May I visit from time to time?" Remus asked hopefully. Robin smiled at him. He was the only friend of her brothers' that she could stand.

"Of course you can, Remus. You're his favorite honorary uncle," Robin replied sweetly as she rocked Harry back and forth.

"Well, we better be off. We just wanted to make sure that you treated your nephew kindly," McGonagall said

Robin rolled her eyes but politely said goodbye before sitting down on a chair.

"Mummy, who's that?" her daughter asked as she came down the stairs, rubbing her eyes.

"This is Harry. He's going to be living with us," Robin explained.

"Really?" her daughter asked, her eyes sparkling. "I've always wanted a little brother." Robin smiled at her.

"And now you have one, Jamie," she said sweetly.

"I'm going to be the best big sister in the whole world," Jamie assured her. "I love you, Harry."

Robin's eyes filled with tears of joy and she had no idea why.

* * *

_"Now, James, your mother is resting so let's be quiet," Mr. Potter told his one-year-old son as he picked James up and brought him over to his mother._

_"Nonsense, Harold. Only Roberta is resting. I'm just fine," Mrs. Potter remarked with a smile. "Come, Jamie, say hello to your new sister."_

_"I've got a baby sister. That's brilliant. I've always wanted a little sister!" James exclaimed._

_Mrs. and Mr. Potter chuckled. "Well now you've got one, Jamie."_

_"I'm going to be the best big brother in the whole world," James promised. "I love you, Roberta."_


	2. Chapter 2

_Robin was drowning in an ocean of blood. She struggled to stay above the blood but the red waves kept crashing into her, pushing her down. She heard voices every time the blood washed over her._

_"Why was I cursed to have a daughter like you?" her mother shouted. "You let my baby boy get killed!"_

_"You are a disgrace to the noble house of Potter!" her father roared. "A snake till the end!"_

_"You were always a coward," James jeered. "You always were nothing but a disappointment."_

_"Isn't it funny, Roberta? Your parents even say that they prefer me as their child rather than you!" Sirius cackled._

_"If they hurt you, they don't deserve to be called family," Narcissa said stoically._

_"Your brother is a swine. He deserves to be killed like the animal he is by the Dark Lord," Severus sneered._

_"I wish that people like my brother and yours never existed. And yet at the same time, I hope that I'll never live without them. If I die, Robin, please protect my brother and yours. We need them, we just don't know it yet," Regulus told her softly._

_Suddenly a ray of light peeked through the dark clouds and it began to dry up the blood. As Robin lay on the ground, gasping, she heard another voice in the distance, calling her name._

_"Aunt Robin. Auntie Robin, wake up," Harry called._

* * *

And she did. Robin jolted upwards, causing the two children who were beside her bed to stumble backwards.

"What happened?" she asked, still breathing heavily as she looked around the room to make sure she was in her own bedroom.

"You were having a nightmare, Mum," Jamie answered. "It sounded like a pretty bad one too. You were screaming and thrashing."

It had been a very bad dream, but Robin didn't want to scare Jamie and Harry, so instead she smiled. "It wasn't that bad. I'm fine," she assured them. They looked at her skeptically. "Really, I am. Now what time is it?"

"Six o'clock," Harry answered.

"I see. Well why don't you two get dressed and we can have an early breakfast," Robin suggested, getting out of her bed. Neither Jamie nor Harry moved. "I'm fine. It'll take more than one bad dream to frighten me."

Harry and Jamie reluctantly left Robin's room. Robin got dressed and walked to the kitchen where she began to cook breakfast.

"What was it about this time?" Remus asked, startling Robin. She hadn't even realized that he was up, let alone in the kitchen. Remus had been staying in Robin's house for the past five years, ever since his latest landlord kicked him out for not being able to pay the rent.

"It was nothing," Robin answered softly.

"If that excuse didn't work on Jamie and Harry, do you really think it will work on me?" Remus said knowingly.

"I was drowning in a sea of blood and I kept hearing all these voices yelling at me, taunting me," Robin explained, telling him what the voices had said. "The strangest thing was when Harry was calling me, all the blood began to dry up."

"Ah," Remus said with a small smile. Robin frowned.

"What are you smirking about?" she asked, annoyed.

"Well I think that your dream is telling you that Harry saved you from drowning in a sea of anger, bitterness and self pity," Remus reasoned. Robin raised an eyebrow at this. "Well think about it. Before Harry came, you couldn't stand to hear James' name. Although you did name your child after him."

"I didn't name her after him," Robin snapped. "That was just a coincidence." Remus rolled his eyes. It amazed him how different yet alike James and Robin were.

"Morning Uncle Remus," Harry greeted Remus with a grin as he and Jamie walked into the kitchen.

"Morning Remus," Jamie said happily. Robin often wondered why her daughter didn't call Remus Uncle like Harry did. She supposed it was because Jamie remembered a time when Remus was not in her life. But Harry had spent nearly every other day with Remus.

"Hey Aunt Robin, I have a question for you," Harry told her.

"What's that, sweetie?" Robin inquired.

"I was wondering what house you want me to be in when I get to Hogwarts," Harry said quietly. Robin and Remus exchanged a surprised look. With Jamie in Ravenclaw, Robin in Slytherin and Remus in Gryffindor, no one had tried to convince Harry to be in a certain house.

"Why do you ask?" Robin questioned.

"Because I kinda want to be in Gryffindor like my dad and Uncle Remus. Besides Jamie told me that most Slytherins are gits," Harry explained, looking nervous.

"I didn't mean you, Mum," Jamie said quickly. "I meant Marcus Flint and Draco."

"Draco's not even in Hogwarts," Remus pointed out.

"But he will be and he said that Uncle Lucius will disown him if he isn't in Slytherin," Jamie remarked.

"That's another thing. You won't disown me if I'm in Gryffindor right?" Harry asked worriedly.

"First of all, Lucius is the king of prats and you can tell him I said so. Second of all, no one is getting disowned for anything. We are a family and we stick together," Robin answered firmly. "Now eat your breakfasts. I want to be at the train station bright and early."

* * *

_"James, wait up!" Robin shouted after him as she ran to catch up with him. James groaned. He had hoped to lose her as soon as they got on the Hogwarts express._

_"Leave me alone, Roberta, I'm going to find my friends," he told her in irritation._

_"Don't call me that!" Roberta exclaimed. "My name is Robin. Besides, Mum said you had to look out for me when we got on the train."_

_"You are sucha Mummy's girl," James jeered. Robin glared at him but before she could retort, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin found them._

_"There you are, Prongs. Where have you been?" Sirius asked him cheerfully, taking no notice of Robin._

_"Just trying to ditch my annoying little sister," James said crossly as though Robin wasn't standing right next to him. Remus turned to Robin and gave her a kind smile._

_"Don't mind them. My name is Remus. You must be Roberta," Remus said gently, extending his hand for her to shake._

_"Roberta," Sirius laughed. "Did your parents think you were going to be a boy or something?"_

_"They sure did. You should have seen how disappointed they were when this girl was born," James joked._

_Roberta felt tears in her eyes. So she punched James' arm and took off running. She found an empty compartment and sat in there to cry._

_A few minutes later, a black haired boy and a blonde girl walked in. The girl immediately rushed to Robin's side._

_"Are you all right?" she asked in a motherly tone._

_"Here, would you like my handkerchief?" the boy asked, handing her a handkerchief._

_"Thank you," Robin said tearfully._

_"I'm Regulus Black and this is my cousin Narcissa," the boy introduced. Robin's eyes widened. She had heard about the Blacks. And how they were dark arts loving snakes. But for some reason, Robin didn't care about that. All she knew was they were two kind people._

_"My name is Robin."_


	3. Chapter 3

Over the years at Hogwarts, Robin had learned to be stoic and was careful not to show her true feelings to anyone. Narcissa had taught her how to keep a calm, cool and if necessary, cold mask on. The older girl had taken her under her wing and taught her how to be a perfect Slytherin.

Of course, Narcissa was a "pureblood princess" and had years of practice. But it was harder for Robin to keep a cool façade because she grew up in a home where there was never an unexpressed feeling.

When James died and Harry arrived, Robin suddenly couldn't care less about who knew what she was feeling. The day Harry arrived, Robin cried for the first time in ten years and she never went back to being indifferent.

Narcissa and Robin drifted apart around that time. Robin began to see exactly what her brother was talking about when he said that the Malfoys were stuffy bigots. And Narcissa was becoming exactly that.

Unfortunately, Narcissa was the only relative of Jamie who was still alive and not in prison. So Robin had to force herself and Jamie to go to the Malfoys every Saturday in the summer.

Robin would drink tea and listen to Narcissa prattle endlessly about how Draco had done something wonderful. And Jamie would have to lose every game she would play with Draco because he would accuse her of cheating or act like a baby when he lost.

* * *

"Was Narcissa always this condescending?" Robin asked when she and Remus had returned home from the train station. After saying a tearful goodbye to Jamie and Harry, Robin and Remus had bumped into Narcissa. Narcissa had made a condescending remark about Harry looking like his dad. Remus had to grab Robin's arm, so she wouldn't punch Narcissa.

Remus sighed. This was not the first time Robin had asked this question. "Yes, she was," he replied. "You just didn't notice because she was your first friend."

"Yeah, and she was the first person to ever be nice to me," Robin agreed. Remus gave her a very annoyed look. "Okay. The first person who was not my brother's friend to ever be nice to me."

"Thank you. If she bothers you so much, why do you insist on visiting her? I'm sure Jamie would be pleased to not see the Malfoys every Saturday," Remus remarked.

"Nothing would make me happier," Robin told him. "But she is Jamie's aunt and therefore she should be allowed to see her."

"Technically she's Jamie's first cousin, once removed," Remus corrected her.

"And believe me, she's been removed for a reason," Robin joked. Remus chuckled. "Well I better get going. I have to buy some flowers and visit Regulus." Robin hesitated as she walked towards the door. She looked out the window for a few minutes.

"Neither Jamie nor Harry will write till tomorrow," Remus reminded her without turning around.

"Right. But if one of them does owl us tonight, you'll come and find me, won't you?" Robin asked hopefully.

"Of course I will," Remus assured her with a slight smirk.

* * *

The next morning, Robin woke up to a snowy owl tapping on the window. It took her a few minutes to realize that the owl was Harry's. Robin jumped out of bed and threw the window open.

She took the letter out of Hedwig's beak and ran into the kitchen. Remus was already up. It was getting closer to the full moon, so it was getting harder for him to sleep.

"Don't keep me in suspense," Remus said with a dry chuckle. "What did he say?"

"He said that Draco is a git. Not that that is a surprise. He made a friend named Ron Weasley on the train," Robin told him as she scanned the letter. "He got into Gryffindor of course. I would have been surprised if he hadn't gotten into Gryffindor. He is his parents' son."

Remus gave her a bewildered look. "I thought you said you didn't care what house he got into."

"I don't. But come on, he is James' son. There is no way he would be sorted anywhere else. He's a Potter, for Merlin's sake," Robin said. Remus gave her a knowing look. "Touché. But I'm the exception to that rule."

"All right, what else happened?" Remus inquired. Robin continued reading Harry's letter. Her eyes widened when she came to the end. "What is it?" Remus asked worriedly.

"Snape," Robin snarled. Remus' eyebrow rose. Severus and Robin had been good friends for a long time. Well more like good frienemies. Mostly because Severus could never fully like a person whose last name was Potter. As for Robin, she liked Severus enough but sometimes his I could care less who you are, I still hate you attitude got frustrating.

"What did he do?" Remus questioned nervously. Robin had the same look on her face that her brother would get right before he hexed someone.

"What do you think? He was an arse to Harry," Robin answered, throwing the letter down on the table.

"Isn't he an arse to everyone?" Remus reminded her.

"That is not the point," Robin snapped as she grabbed her robes.

"Robin, please don't do what I think you're about to do," Remus pleaded. "If Snape is giving Harry a hard time, screaming at him will only make it worse." Robin grumbled and sat down. She hated it when Remus was right which was most of the time.

"He's a hypocrite," Robin said crossly. "You and I both know that he's treating Harry in the same way James treated him."

"Look, I think the way to handle this is to let Harry deal with this on his own. You can't protect him forever," Remus told her gently.

"I know. I suppose I should just be happy that Harry acts more like Lily than James. Cause if he was like James, Snape would probably explode from anger," Robin remarked with a sigh. "Maybe I should tell Harry about the great hair dye prank."

"You know there was a time when you would have skinned anyone alive for even thinking about that," Remus said with a chuckle.

"Well I just don't think Snape should be such a git to Harry," Robin told him firmly.

"He was a git to you too. He would always blame you when James did something, like the time he turned the entire Slytherin common room red and gold," Remus reminded her.

"Well, in his defense, he thought I told James the password," Robin remarked. "I wonder who did give you guys the password."

"I'm sorry to say that I would get the password from the Slytherin prefects," Remus admitted guiltily. Robin gaped at him. "What? James and Sirius would bribe me with chocolate. You know I have a chocolate problem."

"Yes, you do," Robin agreed with a snigger.


	4. Chapter 4

Three months had passed since Harry and Jamie went to Hogwarts. Robin was counting every single day. Even when she was at work, she'd absentmindedly check the calendar when she was supposed to be working on her newest article.

Robin couldn't wait till her nephew and daughter came home. Especially when she heard about what happened on Halloween. Professor McGonagall had sent her a very sharp letter. Robin didn't know whether she wanted to throttle Harry or hug him for trying to fight a fully grown troll. Robin suddenly pitted her mother who had received hundreds of letters about all the trouble James got into.

* * *

"Robin … Robin?"

Robin was pulled out of her thoughts by Eric Russell, a coworker of hers.

"Oh, Eric, hi," Robin greeted him cheerfully. "Sorry, I was just thinking about my daughter and nephew."

"Ah yes, how is famous Harry Potter?" Eric asked with a chuckle.

Robin was not amused. She hated it when people referred to Harry as "the famous Harry Potter" almost as much as she hated being refered to as "James Potter's little sister".

"He's good," Robin answered, biting back a scathing reply. She turned back to her parchment, dipping her quill in ink.

"I'm glad. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat after work," Eric told her nervously.

Robin turned around so fast she knocked over the ink bottle, spilling its contents onto her lap.

"I'm sorry," Eric said quickly as he picked up the fallen ink bottle. "I shouldn't have sprung that on you."

"It's fine," Robin spluttered, flustered as she tried to wipe off the ink with her handkerchief. "You just caught me off guard. Um, I, uh, am very flattered but I'm not sure I should. I…"

"Are you seeing someone?" Eric asked curiously.

"Well, no," Robin admitted. "Can I get back to you on this?"

"Sure."

* * *

Robin rushed home after work and explained the situation to Remus.

"Why do you think I hesitated?" Robin wondered, resting her head on the table.

"Well there are three possibilities," Remus told her gently, placing a cup of tea in front of her. "Number one, you have feelings for someone else. Number two, you haven't been on a date in twelve years. Number three, you feel like you'd be cheating on Regulus if you went on a date."

"Well I definitely don't have feelings for someone else," Robin said firmly. Remus raised an eyebrow. Robin gave him a stern look. "He doesn't count. I just thought Kingsley looked cute. That was the only reason I wanted him to join us for lunch."

Remus snorted disbelievingly. Robin gave him a glare. "All right. What about the other two?" Remus asked curiously as he took a sip from his tea.

"Well, I think it may be both of them. I am a little nervous about going on a date when I haven't dated for so long," Robin answered thoughtfully. "And I do worry that I'll be dishonoring Regulus if I go out with another man."

"Robin, I didn't know Regulus well but I know he loved you a lot. After all, he was going to disobey his parents just to marry you," Remus reminded her. "I don't think he would be angry with you if you went out with someone as long as that person was good for you."

Robin smiled. "Thank you, Remus. But I'm still a little nervous. I know I would feel a lot better if you came with us," Robin pleaded.

"You want me to chaperone you on your date?" Remus repeated, giving her a weird look.

"No, I want to make it a double date," Robin explained.

"No," Remus said firmly.

"Please, come with me. I don't want to make a fool out of myself," Robin begged, using the puppy dog eyes that her brother was practically famous for.

"That look is not going to work on me. It didn't with James and it won't with you," Remus snapped, turning away, his arms folded over his chest. A few seconds passed and Remus looked back over to see Robin still had that face. "Who am I going to ask to come with me anyway? All the women I know are married."

"I can think of one young lady who is definitely not married and would love to go out with you," Robin remarked with a smirk.

Remus' eyes widened in realization that she was talking about Tonks. "No. She's eighteen and thirteen years younger than us," Remus reminded her.

"So? I'm not saying you have to marry her and have kids with her. All I'm asking is for you to go on one date with her," Robin told him firmly. "Besides who cares about how much younger she is than you. My parents were twenty years apart."

Remus gave her a skeptical look. "No, they weren't."

"Oh who knows how old they were," Robin said in exasperation. "They were too old when they had James and me."

"Doesn't she have a boyfriend?" Remus questioned.

"Nope, they broke up six months ago," Robin answered, smiling widely at him. "I'll floo her right now." Remus groaned but didn't stop Robin from running to the living room to call Tonks.

* * *

"Tonight wasn't a complete disaster," Tonks said gently, trying to cheer Robin and Remus up as they came back to Robin's house from the restaurant. "It could have been worse." Remus looked like he very much doubted that and Robin just grabbed a pillow off the couch and screamed into it.

To say that the double date went terribly would be an understatement. Eric had talked… a lot. Robin could barely get a word in edgewise. Most of his stories were about articles he wrote. The worst part was when Tonks brought up a werewolf article he had mentioned. Eric went on and on about werewolves and how they were vicious and cruel creatures. Apparently, he had only written a kind article about them because the editor of the Daily Prophet had insisted.

"It was horrible!" Robin snapped. "The worst part is I have to still work with that bigheaded bigot. I want to punch him. In fact maybe tomorrow, I will punch him right on the nose."

"Robin," Remus warned. "Don't even think about it."

"I agree. The guy was a jerk but I think it was nice to spend time with you," Tonks said sweetly, looking directly at Remus as she spoke.

"I'm glad you had fun. Would you like me to walk you home?" Remus asked hopefully.

"Can't she just-" Robin began, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I would love that," Tonks answered quickly before the other woman could finish.

Robin smirked. Tonks was right, tonight had not been a total bust. At least Remus and Tonks had hit it off. Not that Remus would admit it.


End file.
